pointed commentary on current affairs in Jamaica and the Caribbean

In Jamaica, if you’re not a footballer, a runner or a cricketer, dog nyam yuh supper. We’ve lauded our CARIFTA track and field team which won 77 medals including 34 gold. That is great, and we are all grateful to the hard working athletes and their coaches who keep the flag flying high (all three colours of it!)

(CARIFTA swimmers – Gillian Haughton photo)

Our CARIFTA swimmers, who came home from the Bahamas with 32 medals – ten gold, sixteen silver and six bronze, have received much less attention. I’m told the team was met at an airport by a TVJ cameraman. Full stop. The children frequently complain of the limited attention they get from the public.

They did, however, get more attention than the chess team, which gave us two CARIFTA champions , and an overall third place, or the water polo team, which is in re-building stage, and where our under-15 boys placed second of four teams to win a silver, our under-19 girls came away with the silver against Trinidad and Tobago, and our under-19 boys, were bested by Trinidad and Tobago and Curacao to take bronze. (CARIFTA water polo teams – Malden Miller photo)

Fact is, in Jamaica, track and field, (men’s) football, (men’s) cricket and to a lesser extent, netball, are the big sports (the reaction to women’s sports is another story -our netballers were excelling for years with little attention, the Reggae Boyz made ONE World Cup, where they failed to advance, and became superstars). But the reality is that there are many other sports which Jamaicans are playing, and playing well, albeit not at the stratospheric level of track and field.

We have youngsters competing in synchronized swimming, volleyball, tennis, badminton, gymnastics, and the list goes on.

The athletes in many of these sports have to be really determined to compete, especially at the regional and international levels. Family members usually have to underwrite the entire cost of competition including travelling and uniforms. It gets really expensive, really quickly, and many give up.

So why bother? Why not stick with the big four? Actually, there are many reasons why we need to broaden our horizons, and think beyond the popular sports.

Young people should be given the opportunity to explore all their talents, and their potential. A so-so runner may be a dynamite swimmer. A mediocre footballer may be a promising tennis player.

There is potential for scholarships in many of these areas, not just track and field.

We need to see the potential for development in sports generally and expanding the sports we support will allow more young people to excel.

Other benefits of sports have been well documented, improving social skills, fostering team spirit, teaching kids how to win and lose. Again, the more sports we are able to offer, the more children will be able to benefit.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, Berlin 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not all children can be Usain Bolt or Veronica Campbell-Brown. But that shouldn’t be our only measure of success.

Disclosure: I am not a sportswoman, and never was. Despite my complete lack of coordination, I comfort myself with the thought that I just wasn’t exposed to a wide variety of sports!

5 thoughts on “In Praise of “Minor” Sports”

Another thought provoking piece DJM! I especially like the point about our kids looking at other areas. Imagine Jamaica has eight male sprinters whose PR is sub 10, that translates to two of them will not make the olympic team, since the relay pool is 6 and at least one big name will not make it to compete in the 100 since the country is only allowed three entrants and the situation is also very competitive on the women’s side. For football several of the top clubs in the National Premier League have been struggling to pay their players with some going without salaries for several weeks. This is coupled with the fact that only a few of our ballers will earn an overseas contract. Don’t even get me started on netball, many of the players struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis. But I digress, it’s disgraceful that a team can represent the country and then get little or no attention from the media and the public! Come on now we need to do better!

Well said. I think the lack of support is something of that happens in the UK as well where football is the be all and end all with Rugby and Cricket following. You can watch a sport report or read a newspaper and see nothing but Football. The UK hosted the World Netball champs a few years ago nothing was reported in the major media. The other minor sports and ‘ women’s’ events only get mentioned during the build up to the Olympics and many like synchronise swimming are now in danger of losing their state supported funding.

Even tennis is not reported on unless Andy Murry is doing well or Wimbledon is on

Well said. The support or lack of support for different sports is something we have to examine but I suppose it will always be a constant debate. Critically things to think on. The role of sponsors/corporate society; The role of the Media in shaping the mind of the end user and the message transmitted by government officials. These have a significant bearing on the level of support given to ‘Minoror Major’ sports in Jamaica. Check the major sports news and see what comes first or last, how much airtime given to a certain reports etc. Truth be told, because of ‘limited’ financial resources most companies are more committed to sponsoring that event or sport that have a direct and immidiate impact. This filters to all the other areas of sports (promotions, marketing etc). Guess we could spend a long while on this but I suppose each of us including myself have a role to play in building sports in general.

Great article DJM……I’ve been told in no uncertain terms by some members of the media that swimming is an “elitist” sport…not sure exactly what makes it so.
But the fact is, it’s the only sport my child does and is trying to excel at it, so I have to give him all the support possible.
I felt so bad for the team when they were leaving on Easter Monday and not one media house saw it fit to come to the airport. Days prior there was a big hulabaloo when the track and field team left for Bermuda, and I am sure they were also met at the airport on their return.
Fact is that swimming is still regarded as an after school activity where the children spend just a few hours in training. Despite this however, they have done very well.